"Since the 2022 Dobbs ruling, the anti-abortion movement has largely failed to stop a barrage of ballot measures on reproductive rights. First, in 2022, voters in Kansas rejected an effort to undo a state Supreme Court decision protecting abortion. There were further setbacks in California, Vermont, New York, Kentucky, Montana, Michigan, and Ohio."
"Most strikingly, Missouri, a state with some of the nation's harshest abortion laws, passed a ballot measure protecting reproductive rights, even as voters elected a Republican supermajority to the state Legislature and favored Donald Trump by an 18-point margin."
"That left the anti-abortion movement without a clear ballot-initiative playbook moving forward. Wins might be possible in the nation's most conservative states, or in jurisdictions like Florida that require supermajority support before a ballot measure became part of a state constitution."
Since the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, anti-abortion movements have experienced significant losses on ballot initiatives across both red and blue states. Voters rejected efforts to restrict abortion in Kansas, California, Vermont, New York, Kentucky, Montana, Michigan, and Ohio. Missouri notably passed a reproductive rights measure despite electing a Republican supermajority and favoring Trump. Anti-abortion forces achieved only limited success in South Dakota and Nebraska. With no clear strategy for ballot initiatives, abortion opponents are now exploring new tactics, including potentially confusing voters about ballot measure language to reverse their losing streak.
#abortion-ballot-initiatives #anti-abortion-movement-strategy #voter-confusion-tactics #reproductive-rights #post-dobbs-politics
Read at Slate Magazine
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